Chapter 585: As for Dignity, I

「BOOM——————!」

When the Trident Gaia directly struck the Fallen Hell Beast in midair, a golden energy sphere instantly appeared in the sky.

The explosive energy storm swept through the surroundings at once, triggering tectonic shifts across the entire Zhuque Sacred Domain.

Shengzai’s original strike was meant to shatter the Fallen Hell Beast into data and erase it completely.

But as the golden halo gradually faded, the scarred little beast fell from the sky—and was caught midair by the Fox Beast.

This left Shengzai, who had been ready to deliver the finishing blow, unable to strike again.

Logically, any other Ultimate-level Digimon that took Shengzai’s killing move, “Trident Gaia,” would’ve been finished.

Yet the Fallen Hell Beast only regressed into a Rookie-level beast—this proves that Digimon with a protagonist aura simply have unbreakable fate.

What? You’re asking why the Lion Digimon died in the original plot?

Shengzai could only say: that proves he wasn’t truly part of the main crew, so he had no aura.

And Lion Digimon? He’s the veteran workhorse of the Digital World.

Though labeled a righteous Digimon and appearing frequently in that generation of Digimon, he never had a good ending.

He always ended up dead—again and again.

Often serving as the sacrifice for the hero’s power-up, calling him “Lion Digimon” is misleading—he’s more like “The Loyal Family of Martyrs.”

After defeating the World Destroyer Dragon and the Fallen Hell Beast, Shengzai turned his gaze to the Zhuque Digimon, who had been watching passively in the sky.

At that moment, the Zhuque Digimon spread its wings, stirred up massive flames, and launched them straight toward Qiren and the others.

Of course, just as the flames were about to engulf Qiren and the others, Shengzai fired a “Victory Impact” from afar, scattering all the flames.

“You want to stop me?”

At first, the Zhuque Digimon hadn’t regarded Shengzai, now evolved into “Victory Tyrannomon,” as an enemy.

After all, upon his arrival, Shengzai had already defeated the World Destroyer Dragon, which had brought warnings of crisis to the Digital World, and the Fallen Hell Beast, which had abused the power granted to it.

So the Zhuque Digimon naturally assumed Shengzai wasn’t allied with those humans—he was merely a powerful Ultimate-level Digimon passing through.

“That’s a strange thing to say—what do you mean ‘stop you’? Am I supposed to just watch while you kill my comrades?”

Shengzai’s words left the Zhuque Digimon stunned for a moment, then it spoke with supreme authority: “I never expected someone with such power would consort with those humans—what a foolish Digimon.”

“If you choose to degrade yourself, then perish with them in this sea of fire!”

As the Zhuque Digimon spoke, the red gemstones encircling its neck and tail erupted in brilliant light.

As the gems on the Zhuque Digimon’s body glowed, all fire elements within the Zhuque Sacred Domain suddenly surged to life, coalescing before it into a massive fireball nearly a hundred meters in diameter.

Is the Zhuque Digimon strong? Extremely strong.

Before the World Tree’s lore was established, in the first three generations, Qinglong Digimon was nearly the pinnacle of Digimon power.

As one of the Four Sacred Beasts alongside Qinglong Digimon, the Zhuque Digimon’s strength sat at the absolute peak of the Digital World—indeed, it was practically a god incarnate.

The Red Knight Digimon and Shadogudou Digimon that were defeated were merely fragments of this Zhuque Digimon—but here, this is its true body descending.

But in terms of lore, even setting aside Shengzai’s otherworldly powers, Victory Tyrannomon’s status is no less lofty.

For Victory Tyrannomon is one of the mediators created by the World Tree to prevent its own rampage.

Alongside Final Cannon Garurumon, it bears the mission of stopping the World Tree and preventing the Digital World’s collapse.

In other words, Victory Tyrannomon and Final Cannon Garurumon are the World Tree’s own safety mechanisms.

In the event of the World Tree’s rampage, as World Mediators, they possess the power to halt it.

No matter how powerful you Four Sacred Beasts are, can you rival the World Tree?

As the Zhuque Digimon gathered its fireball, Shengzai gripped the hilt of Dragon Beast Shattered Sword and began compressing energy from the surrounding atmosphere.

Knowing the Zhuque Digimon’s advantage in terrain would amplify its strength within its own domain, Shengzai held nothing back.

This time, the “Trident Gaia” he compressed and gathered was not only stronger in power and aura than before—he also infused the blade with multiple elemental forces from Ibuse Shengzai.

As a result, the Dragon Beast Shattered Sword in Shengzai’s hands swelled to ten times its original size, and the gathered light shifted from golden to a multicolored rainbow hue.

If the previous “Trident Gaia” looked like holding a sniper rifle, the Dragon Beast Shattered Sword now resembled a colossal railgun!

Seeing Shengzai’s compressed “Trident Gaia,” the Zhuque Digimon, still manipulating flames, showed clear surprise.

For though it had always stood at the peak of Digimon power, it now felt the threat of death.

“No matter how powerful, it’s still heresy!”

With the Zhuque Digimon’s roar, the hundred-meter fireball plummeted like a falling sun.

“You call yourself a Sacred Beast, and now you actually believe it? Heresy?”

“Then let you see how this heresy will destroy you!”

“Ultimate—Trident Gaia—!”

A rainbow-colored beam, dozens of meters wide, erupted from Shengzai’s Dragon Beast Shattered Sword.

The immense recoil from this beam shattered the ground beneath Shengzai’s feet and drove his legs deep into the earth.

And the rainbow beam did not disappoint.

At the moment it struck the giant fireball, the Zhuque Digimon’s fireball— Ningju by elemental force—collapsed within moments, completely pierced through.

Seeing this, the Zhuque Digimon’s eyes widened in shock.

Flapping its wings, it quickly formed a flame barrier before itself.

Yet this flame barrier, too, held for no more than an instant before being utterly pierced through.

As the rainbow beam loomed larger in its vision, about to strike, three projectiles shot in from behind: a lightning chain, a white beam, and a green vine.

「BOOM——————!」

When the four forces collided, the entire Zhuque Sacred Domain shook violently.

The energy halo formed a massive hemispherical dome covering the entire domain; the overwhelming shockwave shattered nearly two-thirds of the Zhuque Sacred Domain.

(End of Chapter)